Upstream plastic industry production to rise by 10%

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's production of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and PVC products is expected to increase by 10 percent to 2.55 million tons this year from about 2.3 million tons in 2000, according to the association of Indonesian plastic producers (Fiplasin).

The association's chairman A. Sarbini said here on Tuesday that about 70 percent of the production would be sold in the domestic market.

Sarbini said that the other 30 percent of the upstream plastic products, which are generally used in the production of food packaging, home appliances, plastic bags, and pipes, were exported to China, Australia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

According to him, local demand for upstream plastic products would increase by an average of 12 percent to 1.8 million this year from 1.6 million in 2000.

"The local use of polyethylene products would rise by about 8 percent while polystyrene will reach about 20 percent," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said that the local demand for upstream plastic dropped by 44 percent to 900,000 tons in 1998 as many packaging companies cut their production to cope with the severe impact of the economic crisis.

The demand bounced back to 1.45 million tons in 1999 and to about 1.6 million tons in 2000 amid signs of recovery in the country's plastic related industry.

The downstream plastic industry, which mostly produces plastic sheets, packaging, PVC products and home appliances, also export part of their products to China, Europe and Africa, he said to reporters after announcing the opening of an international plastic and rubber exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany in October.

About 2,500 companies from all over the world would exhibit their products -- plastic raw materials, machinery and equipment for the plastic and rubber industry -- at the expo which is held once in three years. (05)